Double the Trouble
by Melusina
Summary: Severus swears that his revenge on Sirius revenge will be sweet, one day. Fluff, incredibly AU, I might add, but it actually has a beautiful plot... NB: this story will be ended, no discontinued stories for me...
1. Prologue

Double the Trouble Prologue 

He couldn't remember when last he had felt this cold. This wet. This utterly chilled. Oh hell, of course he could remember. When had it ever been different? But he was nearly there. Time to deliver the sparse scraps of news that he had managed to collect. And to endure the smell of wet dog, of course. There was no saying, which would be the hardest to endure,

Finally there. Some small, merciful light. He quietly entered the large mansion, the Most Noble House of Black, trying to avoid the portrait. The shrew seemed to be asleep, thank heavens for small favours. He was sick of it all. The cold, the loneliness, the hopelessness of his situation. He longed for some warmth, some food, and if he was entirely honest with himself, some of the coziness that sometimes surrounded him in the kitchen like a warm blanket. He never acknowledged it to himself, but sometimes he managed to disappear in a dark corner and enjoyed the company that surrounded him. So long as they didn't find him out, of course. Or Black started to be rude. He stood still for a moment. He vaguely heard the sounds of merriment and laughter come out of the kitchen. He sighed and swept in. The room fell deadly silent. 

Then, "Hell, Snape, shut the damn door. I'm freezing. What do you need anyway?"

"Welcome back," Snape thought. And something inside of him froze.

"Well, at least I did something useful with my time, Black," he sneered back. "Unless some _fugitives_ I could name."

"You dirty son of a bitch," Black yelled back, red faced, fishing for his wand.

Remus Lupin sighed and tiredly asked Snape what he wanted.

"Speak to Dumbledore," Snape answered curtly, stepping in front of the fireplace.

After having made his call, he rose and turned to the stove in the hopes of finding something left to eat.

"Sod off, Snape," growled Black, who was trying to shake off Lupin's hand. "That smell of rotten fish is nauseating."

"I can imagine that it is hard to get used to one's personality, Black, especially if it is one of your variety."

With a growl that sounded like a rottweiler, Black shoved Lupin away and pointed his wand at Snape. He managed to curse him before Lupin jumped at him.

It was a small consolation that he was immediately captured by Lupin. A very small one, considering that fact that Blacks curse had made Snape's clothes transparent and that nothing kept the other occupants in the kitchen from admiring Snape in the nude. Or to ask themselves who might have given Snape that little red heart that hang on a chain around his neck.

A powerless, blinding anger ran through Snape, he balled his fist and disappeared out of the kitchen, surrounded by the uproarious laughter of the entire Weasley family.

"I will make you pay for this Black, oh yes I swear I will."


	2. New Teacher

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Chapter Two - New teacher 

"Students", intoned the quiet voice of Albus Dumbledore, who had risen from his seat, "your attention please."

The excited chatter in the great hall died down almost immediately.

"As you all know, professor Twiddledee most unfortunately had to leave us last week. I am afraid that she won't be able to rejoin us any time soon. We were therefore obliged to find another teacher for Defense against the Dark Arts. I am most happy, however, to introduce to you a new teacher who will take over this post at least until the end of this year. I would like to introduce to you professor Serenus Caldus."

Polite applause sounded as Dumbledore ended his speech and the new professor rose and nodded at the students.

Suppressed muttering followed immediately after. Professor Twiddledee hadn't been the best-liked teacher ever. But she hadn't been that bad either. Just forgetful. Prone to drop her cup of tea at the worst times. And a very unpractical fear of spiders. But not bad. She had apparently never noticed it when you finished a potions essay during her lessons. And she always believed it when you said that your wrist was sprained during an extra quidditch session. She hardly ever took points off for not having finished essays on time.

Well, Hermione would have it that you didn't learn a thing in her lessons, but that was considered a minor disadvantage. You could always study by yourself, in the spare hours, couldn't you, or so Ron argued. Hermione wasn't convinced, but then, she had always been an overachiever. And besides – with Voldemort beaten, there was hardly a thing left to do. No – upon the whole, professor Twiddledee hadn't been that impopular. Too bad she got stuck in the Devil's Snare, one moonlit and harmless evening. Apparently it had taken a long time for anybody to save her. Well, perhaps those strange turns in her arms and nose weren't permanent. Mediwizardry was up to amazing things these days. It might take a while to learn to walk as well. And her voice had changed into such a strange squeak. Very unpractical for teaching. So perhaps it was for the best. It was a pity, though.

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at the new teacher. He seemed already to be on the best of terms with Professor McGonagall, their Head of House. He was a man in his late thirties, with a pleasant face.

"Well, perhaps we'll learn something from this one," Hermione muttered.

"Herm, you know very well that you don't need a teacher to learn anymore in that subject. You finished the curriculum five months ago. And Twiddledee wasn't that bad. She was just dumb. Which is practical."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Sure. I'm here to learn. Not just to pass the exams."

Harry and Ron exchanged looks.

"Sure, Herm."

Of course, Defense against the Dark Arts was the first subject they had the next morning. The seventh years Gryffindors entered the classroom with mixed emotions. They still had to pass their exams, and a good teacher would be welcome. On the other hand, their workload was already considerable and they weren't waiting for any more. And their past experience with Defense teachers was varied. To say the least.

Professor Caldus was already there, standing at the door, greeting them friendly as they took their seats. The class sat down quietly, waiting for what was coming.

"Good morning," he finally said. "I went through the notes of my predecessor, but I found it very hard to make sense of them. Perhaps Professor Twiddledee's way of noting things is beyond me."

A hint of a smile went through the class. Perhaps it was Professor Twiddledee's lack of organisation.

Professor Caldus didn't show whether he noticed it or not. "I will therefore go through the demands of the newt exams together with you and see what area's you will still need to work up on. As you all know, there are five main area's that are relevant for Defense against the Dark Arts. Which area's are those?"

Many students raised their hands. It was an easy question.

"Mr.?"

"Finnigan, sir," Seamus said and answered the question. "Defense against dangerous magical animals, curses, potions, objects and abuse, sir."

"Correct. But what do you mean with abuse?"

"In itself harmless spells that are used for a wrong purpose, sir."

"Correct again. 5 points to Gryffindor."

"There are two fundamentally different approaches to this subjects. Which?"

The Gryffindors looked at each other. Nobody said anything. They had no idea what Caldus meant.

Hermione hesitatingly raised her hands. "Uhm, the difference between objects and living things, sir?"

"No, I'm afraid that is not what I meant. Anybody? Let me rephrase the question. If you were to enter a potentially dangerous situation what would you rather have? A blunt object or a textbook?"

They stared at each other. Apparently the question was meant seriously.

At last Harry said, "I'd rather have the blunt object, sir. You might not have the time to study the textbook first."

His teacher nodded at him.

"You make my point, Mr. Potter. There are two different approaches that I want you to concentrate on. The first is of course the flawless execution of all kinds of curses and disarming spells. And a very thorough theoretical knowledge of magical animals, potions and curses.

The second is that you learn to react adequately at a time when you don't know what is coming for you. In real life there is no note saying that you need to fight a boggart. You just know that something very scary is going on. And most people don't warn you before they throw a deadly hex at you. But you will have to react in a split second and with a dead accuracy."

The class looked at each other. Hm. This could be promising.

"We will therefore split up our time. In one half of the lessons, you will study theory, hone your skills on separate spells, curses and the like. In the other half, you will learn to react in dangerous situations. You will not know what to expect beforehand."

"Before we start, however, I would like you to do the following test to the best of your ability. I would like to know how far you are at present."

A slight sigh went through the group. A test. Well, the beginning of the lesson had been promising.

Out of habit, Ron turned in Hermione's direction while answering the questions. He hoped she would write a bit more clearly than last time.

A slight cough made him look up. "I'm afraid you will have to do it by yourself, Mr...?"

"Weasley," Ron said automatically.

"You see, I want to know what you know yourself."

Flustered, Ron bent his head. And did the test himself. Oh well, It had been a while after all.

The rest of the class snickered as they wrote.

Not that the test wasn't bloody hard.


	3. Potions

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Potions 

Upon the whole, no one was very certain what they thought about their new teacher after that first lesson. He seemed rather nice, with a hint of mocking sternness that they could appreciate. But he would still have to do what he said he would. They waited for what would be coming.

There wasn't much time to discuss it, however, for the next lesson was potions. They entered the classroom with less enthusiasm than could be found in a cat about to be showered.

Bang! They were hardly seated when Snape swept into the classroom. "Turn to page 297 of your textbook. Proceed to list the ingredients you will need to brew the Clarification potion. After that, start to brew it. Begin now."

Harry and Ron were sitting next to each other. They were both less than motivated to begin. They had had a quidditch match the evening before, and their potions homework had suffered slightly. Hopefully their system would once more work out.

During their long years of Potions lesson they had perfected their system of collateral support communicaton. (CSC). They were not entirely sure what collateral meant, but it worked like a charm. Mostly. It was particularly useful when either of them was being grilled by Snape on some minor potions detail. It involved a lot drumming on the table with certain fingers (very silently), rubbing the scar (Harry), shuffling with feet (both), go with hand through hair (both), softly nudging Hermione (Ron, he was usually sitting next to her) and the like. In the course of the years it had grown to be a highly sophisticated communication system that could be used to the delivery of all kind of messages. Including potions answers. Provided the other knew the answer, of course.

Snape had never found out. Well, of course Ron's very frequent sighing and Harry's shuffling didn't exactly raise Snape's opinion of them both, but that wasn't a great loss.

Today they used it to discuss their opinion of the new teacher and to avoid being questioned by Snape. At the end of the lesson their potion had the right colour, which proved once more the entire usefulness of their system. Well, perhaps it smelled a bit odd, and perhaps there was a tad too much smoke, but you couldn't have everything.

At the end of the lesson, Snape was unexpectedly standing next to Harry. He disdainfully sniffed. "Well, Potter, it is fortunate indeed that the dark lord has already been beaten. This potion wouldn't have been of much help."

Harry looked up quickly, indignant answer on his lips. But then Snape's words sickered in and he excitedly asked, "Do you mean that potion could be used in Defense, sir?"

Snape drew up one mocking brow.

"Well, well, hope is not entirely lost, it seems. It can indeed, Mr. Potter. How would that work, do you think?"

Harry racked his brains. It was a potion. That meant it would have to be ingested somehow. That meant stealth. And secrecy. Hm.

"You make the enemy swallow it, and then question him, sir?"

"10 points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter. Who of you dunderheads does know the answer?"

Even Hermione seemed to be at a loss.

Snape sneered. "I might have known. The point of this potion is, that you don't swallow it. Instead you might use it on inanimate objects. Now think again. How might it be used?"

Silence.

Ron sat back, frowning. Inanimate objects. What kind of objects.

"Sir," he hesitatingly asked, "could it be used on mirrors and the like?"

Snape looked at him. One brow risen. "Well, Mr. Weasley, this is definitely a first. Class, write an essay on the uses of the Clarification potion to be handed in next week. Dismissed."


	4. Defense Against the Dark Arts

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Chapter Two - Defense against the Dark Arts 

The new teacher was immediately popular with almost all the students. He didn't seem to have been educated at Hogwarts himself, so no house could claim him as their own. And he seemed to be fairly reasonable with the points he awarded or took.

The next Defense lesson the Gryffindors entered the classroom only to find a note that they were expected in one of the dungeon classrooms. They rushed there, uncertain as to what their teacher was up to.

He awaited them in a seemingly empty classroom. "Class," he said, "today, you have a practical assignment. You will enter the room on my left. Once I close the door behind you, you will be locked in. You have to find a way to get out. If one of you should get in serious trouble, make the sound of a ringing bell with your wand. I will then release you. Otherwise, you are on your own. Good luck."

The students looked at each other, unable to believe their ears. Reluctantly, they entered the room.

It seemed to be a very normal room. There was a four poster bed in it, a mirror at the wall, a small dresser under it, a large cupboard, an old carpet on the floor and nothing much else. The light was coming from a chandelier at the ceiling and a lot of candles. There was no window and no other door.

They looked at each other, puzzled. "Do you think he's nuts?" Seamus uncertainly asked.

Harry remembered the face of their teacher. "I don't think so at all," he said, remembering the man's smiling eyes. "I think he wants to see what we're up to when confronted with an unexpected situation. We should try to get out of here, like he said."

With that he touched the door handle. He immediately released it and fell back with a cry, for it sparkled and glowed with heat.

"Well," he dryly said. "I think we can safely presume that it is cursed. We will have to find another way. But which one?"

With that, creativity kicked in and they spent some hilarious time devising the most ridiculous solutions.

They could wrap the handle with the carpet. (Neville, first practical solution, unfortunately unsuccessful, the handle burnt its way right through the carpet)

They could transfigure the mirror in a spade and dig their way out. (Seamus, he seemed to have too much energy since his latest love affair, and anyway, the floor was of solid rocks)

They could cause a fire and burn the door (Dean, never thinking of anything else that might burn)

They could use the mirror as a fire glass and burn a hole in the door (Seamus again, leftover from his boy scout boyhood)

They could sleep until Caldus came to get them out (Ron, still tired and content to be lazy)

Hermione searched the drawers of the dresser and found a small, rather mouldy looking book that seemed to be on Defense. If she deciphered de title correctly. But she wasn't sure; it was more of a lucky guess. Anyway, she sat down on the bed and buried herself in the book.

Harry looked around, thinking. He didn't know his teacher very well, yet. There was no knowing what kind of a person he was. Nonetheless, Harry had the feeling that the solution would be elegant and simple, with no need to destroy something in order to succeed. No, how could that be arranged? He frowned, remembering the potions lesson and the uses of the clarification potion.

He looked into the mirror, half expecting to see something apart from his own face. But no, it seemed to be a very common mirror. Nothing wrong with it.

He frowned again, looking at the door handle. It had to be cursed in some way. What kind of curse could that be? And how could it be undone?

He frowned again, dimly remembering something they had learned in charms, last year. Something about reversal…

"Hermione," he called out. "What was that again that Flitwick said about reversibility of charms? Does that mean curses as well?"

Hermione looked blankly for a moment. Then she brightened. "Wait, yes. It can be undone if you chant the incantation the other way round and mirror the wand movement."

"Well, that's of no use to us here," Ron remarked, as we don't know what curse was placed on the handle. Hermione thought for a moment. Didn't Flitwick also say something about the reversal of the result? That's it! We need to reverse the sparkling door handle. How do we do that?"

"Uhm," Neville piped, "perhaps we could charm the mirror so that it reverses the effect?"

"Brilliant," Dean almost immediately said. "Wait a second."

And with a wave of his wand he cast the reversal charm on the mirror. Harry carefully neared the door handle again. With the same unfortunate result as the first time.

They looked at each other, sighing. "Somebody a better idea?"

Ron looked around him. "I don't know why it didn't work. It made sense. You reverse a curse by doubling the effect. That was it."

"That's it," Hermione happily said. "Ron, you're a genius. We need to more mirrors. One on each wall of this room. Then the effect is truly doubled."

The others looked at her a bit dumb, but willing to try it. Hermione quickly transfigured the carpet into a mirror and told Neville to hold it up. She did the same with the book.

Dean cast the charm again. This time they all knew that he had been successful, even before Harry tried the door handle.

Their teacher awaited them outside, arms crossed before his chest, smiling faintly. "Full points," he only said.

That evening Harry wrote an excited letter Sirius. After the war, Sirius stayed at Grimmauld Place, but it had become a much more cheerful place to live in.

"_We got a new DADA teacher. Twiddledee somehow got lost in Devil's Snare. The new teacher, his name is Caldus, Serenus Caldus, by the way, do you know him? He is real cool. He gave us a practical lesson today."_

(Here he described the lesson at great length)

"_Next weekend we will have a Hogsmeade weekend. Why don't you come over? It will be great fun! We could all go to the Three Broomsticks. Please let me hear if you can come!_

_Harry_

Having sealed it and sent it away, he turned to Ron for a game of chess.


	5. Sirius

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. 

Chapter Five - Sirius 

That weekend Harry, Hermione and Ron met on Saturday morning to go to Hogsmeade. Sirius had sent Harry notice that he would be there also and that they would meet at the Three Broomsticks. Harry had eagerly agreed.

Somehow, after Voldemort's demise, all the tension of the last times left him and he was reluctant to occupy himself with anything that might be qualified as serious.

They were on their way as usual, talking about nothing much serious, when they were run over by a big black dog. Harry eagerly greeted him, while Ron and Hermione looked on and grinned. When they had also received their due of licks in the face and paws on their shoulders, they set of, Sirius once more in human form.

They talked quidditch – of course – when Harry remembered their new defense teacher.

"Say, Sirius, you should come and visit us sometime, you know, he eagerly said. I'm sure that Dumbledore would allow it. And it's fun, you know. He gives us challenges. We had one last week. You know – I wrote you about that one. Took us some time to figure it out. I didn't know mirrors could be used in such a way!"

Sirius' brow had darkened a little bit. Harry caught the look and asked himself a bit mystified what it might mean. Oh well, probably Sirius was a bit miffed that he hadn't gotten the position himself. Harry knew he had hoped for it – he had caught a scrap of conversation with professor Lupin one late night at Grimmauld Place. He had never told Sirius so – not having a clue how to start about it. He stopped talking, a bit uncertain as how to continue.

Luckily the period of slight awkwardness was soon over. Sirius seemed to shake himself and told Harry, in a slightly loud voice, that he would be very happy to come visit him some day. If Dumbledore would allow it, of course.

"Yes, do so, Sirius," Harry eagerly answered. "I bet you'll like Caldus. He's cool, you know. And seems to know his stuff."

"Hm, Caldus. Never heard of him. Didn't go to Hogwarts, I suppose. Where was he during the war, I wonder? Hm, well, as you say, I would like to meet him."

They entered the Three Broomsticks talking eagerly. Sirius seemed to have regained himself and laughed with them at their recital of the twins' newest pranks.

He bought butterbeers for them all and they settled at one of the tables. They were again deeply engaged in their conversation, so that Hermione was the only one to notice more people entering the pub. She exclaimed softly. "Look at that. Professors Caldus and Snape of all people. I didn't know Snape ever got in here! What do you think that means?"

Their discussion rudely interrupted, Ron, Harry and Sirius one moment gaped at her like fish before they turned as one to observe said professors. It was true. In all their Hogwarts years, they had never known Snape to enjoy the company at the Three Broomsticks, but wonders never ceased, apparently. Not only that – they seemed to be enjoying a conversation of sorts.

Snape walked in the direction of one of the empty tables next to Harry and Sirius. Professor Caldus, apparently never having been inside the pub before, took time to look around him and to nod friendly in the direction of Harry and his friends. He looked at Sirius too, and smiled friendly. Sirius nodded back, openly interested and a little bit curious.

Harry saw the exchange and immediately waved at the professor. Caldus saw it and walked to Harry. "Mr. Potter," he said friendly, with a hint of laughter in his voice. "I take it that you are enjoying your time?"

"Oh yes, professor. May I introduce my godfather to you? Sirius Black. Sirius, this is our new professor against the dark arts, Professor Caldus."

"I'm honoured to meet you," said Professor Caldus, shaking hands with Sirius. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Likewise," said Sirius, who examined the new professor interestedly. "I hope you have a pleasant stay at Hogwarts. And that your teaching career there may be smooth. Or rather – be long and prosperous."

The new professor grinned knowingly. "I know. I heard that I do have a lot of predecessors. Well, there's only so many dead skeletons that can be hidden in a dark cupboard, can there. And a few nasty ones have already been found and buried properly. So I hope that my career may indeed prosper."

They all laughed. "Well, Professor, the only you thing have to take care of then will be Devil's Snare, Hermione laughed. Very dangerous, you know."

With an amused glitter in his eyes the Professor answered, "Why, so I've been told. I'll do the best I can to prevent any accidents."

A silken voice behind them said "At least turbans are out of fashion. You don't happen to have one, do you, Caldus?"

"Alas, Professor, you've found me out," Caldus said mournfully. "Not only a turban, but also brightly coloured shirts and slippers with points that curl up at the front. I was to be a sultan, once, you know? At a party. But I slipped and fell down the stairs to the basement. And then everybody found out that I had nicked half the sweets. Especially the strawberry flavoured ones. My reputation was nevermore what it used to be."

The students laughed themselves to tears. Sirius grinned approvingly at Caldus. Even Snape showed a reluctant smile.

"You must have been the Headmaster's most favourite candidate in years," he sourly said. "Next he starts to share his sweets with you. Take care. I've never seen anybody survive them."

"Good practice for Fred and George," Ron boldly said. "You'll never know what hit you, sir."

Caldus grinned a bit but looked at Snape contritely. "I'm sorry, professor. I was in your company, but it seems I've been distracted. I hope you don't mind? Let's sit down as we were about to."

Snape nodded, but Sirius immediately said, "Come sit with us! I heard a lot about you." He looked around his own group while he said it.

Harry, Ron and Hermione immediately nodded and moved over to make room for him.

Caldus looked at Professor Snape as if to ask for his opinion. Snape just shrugged. Caldus, interpreting this as yes, sat down next to them. Snape said nothing. He just sat down next to him and crossed his arms.

"Butterbeer, everyone?" Sirius offered, and they all accepted eagerly. Snape said again nothing and Sirius just pushed his beer in front of him.

The silence was awkward for a moment, nobody ever having been with Snape at a table in the Three Broomsticks before. Snape himself didn't make it any easier, as he was sitting with his arms crossed and looked darkly in front of him.

Professor Caldus, however, seemed unaware of his dark mood and cheerfully started to talk to Sirius about being an animagus.

"I thought that transfiguration could have been a far more powerful weapon against the dark lord than it has been," he said. "I have always wondered at that. Even someone as paranoid as the dark lord couldn't have questioned every single object in his presence, could he? Something as innocent as a stone in the wall? Or a thread in a carpet? Would he ever have found out? And stones and threats can't be eaten by snakes, can they?"

Harry involuntarily shivered. He had been too close to this particular snake for his taste. But he could see the point of the argument.

"That's just cool, Professor," he said. "I never heard anybody say anything about that. Why would that be?"

"Perhaps because one charm of the dark lord's would have ended the transfiguration?" Snape sarcastically asked.

Harry turned to him. "Yes, of course it would, professor, if Voldemort knew. As long as he didn't, it would have been safe."

"Unpredictable and foolhardy," Snape coldly said.

But Harry could see that he wasn't entirely uninterested. There was some deep, fascinated light in his eye.

He didn't find out what his professor really thought, though. Ron and Hermione, emboldened by Harry's words, took courage and argumented in favour of the idea. Snape just rose his eyebrows and remained seemingly disinterested.

"I think it would be way more practical to change into some small animal," Hermione declared with flushed cheeks. She was thrilled to have a decent conversation with somebody so intellectually stimulating as the new professor.

"A sparrow for example. It would be entirely inconspicuous and you could fly away at a moment's notice."

"Assuming that you weren't poisoned in the dark lord's presence before you could do just that," Snape snidely said.

Harry and Ron snickered, not being reminded at all of a few too many potions lessons.

"Well, it is more practical to fly away as a sparrow, still in transfigured form, than to suddenly have a hole in the wall, literally."

Caldus looked at her and grinned a bit. "Really, Miss Granger. Excellent proposal. But try and add a bit more spice to it. Dare to be slightly mad from time to time. What about transfiguring yourself into a piece of dusk on the dark lord's wand? Or, if you really want a point, transfigure yourself into a louse in his hair. Or a leech, you know. The possibilities really are amazing. You might transfigure yourself into the mould on his feet. Or give him the creeps at night. Now, wouldn't that be the dark lord's ultimate fantasy?"

The student nearly fell off their chair laughing and they eagerly added their own ideas.

"You might be his toothbrush, and poison him a bit everyday."

"Yes, but then you would be in his _mouth_. Yuck."

"Rather his mouth than his feet. Although…"

"You might be a leech in Lucius Malfoy's hair," Ron grinned. "Perhaps he uses shampoo occasionally." Having said he realized how it must have sounded and half glared, half looked at Professor Snape apologetically.

Snape glared at him but just said, "Well, I'd rather dye my hair and pretend to be a Weasley than suck Lucius Malfoy, if it's all the same to you, Weasley, even if I do acknowledge that there's something about you that is truly inimitable."

"Glad to hear you like us so much, Professor," Ron grinned, unabashed.

Snape just glared at him.

"You would still need somebody to transfigure you every day," Hermione sighed. "Or can you choose you animagus form and change it? And can you change yourself into a lifeless abject?" She looked at Sirius enquiringly.

"No," Sirius immediately said. "The form chooses the wizard, not the other way round. And there is no way in you can transfigure yourself into an inanimate object. So yes, you do need somebody else. I think that wouldn't be a problem, though, at Hogwarts."

"Well, I don't know," Caldus said thoughtfully. I knew somebody once who could transfigure himself into an Occasional Table, if need arose. Fascinating possibilities."

Sirius stared at him. Indeed. Who was that?"

"Alas," Caldus sighed. "I don't remember. Not for the life of me. But it was certainly an interesting person, all the same."

Hermione looked him, slightly disbelieving. She had never heard of anybody who could change himself like that. It couldn't be true, could it? She caught Snape's strange half-glare half-grimace towards Caldus. Well, Professor Snape must disbelieve it as well, then, she thought.

The laughing had a cathartic effect and they all felt better afterwards. Even Snape was caught grinning from time to time.

They were all feeling the glow of an afternoon spent among friends and Caldus and Snape joined them on their way back to Hogwarts. Sirius and Caldus walked side by side, talking animatedly, from time to time laughing and joking. Harry walked next to them, feeling slightly more complete than he had in a long time.

Hermione and Ron walked after them. They didn't say much, there wasn't much left to say, somehow, and they were both content.

Snape walked behind them, at some distance. Hermione glimpsed at his face from time to time. It was strange, really, how the afternoon had turned out. Snape had come to the Three Broomsticks together with Caldus. It must have been the first time in years for him to have been in there. But now Caldus seemed on the best of terms with Harry and Sirius. She glanced at Snape's face again. He couldn't be happy about this turn of events, now could he? But Snape's face was a very careful blank.

They walked their way back to Hogwarts in silence.

Odd, thought Hermione, but then the thought left her mind. But not before she had glimpsed the last of Snape's face before he turned on his way down to the dungeons. And had seen the strange, half-contented, half-happy, half-bitter smile on his face.


	6. Caldus and Sirius

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. 

For FemmeLoki for being the world's best reviewer!! And thank you very much for the hint on the ""! I'll try to remember them…

Chapter Six - Caldus and Sirius 

In the weeks that followed Harry noticed a definite increase of Sirius' visits to Hogwarts. At first he thought nothing about it. He only enjoyed himself immensely when Sirius unexpectedly turned out to be a member of the party that was thrown on Halloween.

And it was an unprecedented but truly appreciated surprise when Sirius was present at Thanksgiving that year. The reason for the visit was obvious, of course. He probably didn't want to be in his own house all alone, Harry thought, and sympathized.

Sirius' animagus form came in really handy during the staff's exploratory trips to the Forbidden Forest, which explained why he had to stay at Hogwarts for almost two weeks. Harry hadn't known that the situation in the forest had deteriorated that badly since the end of the war, but then he hadn't exactly paid attention to it either. And he felt slightly proud because of his godfather's wide range of talents.

It was also the first time that he had ever joined Sirius in going shopping for Christmas presents for all their friends. It just felt good to buy a present for everybody they could think of. Sirius even bought presents for the Headmaster and professor Caldus. He always made friends so easily, Harry thought, slightly jealous.

He vaguely started to wonder what might be going on when Sirius turned up for Hermione's birthday. Not that she had a party, or anything, as it was a day in the middle of the week, but it sure was nice. The fact that he hadn't done anything like that ever before was of course no reason at all not to start with it now. He even brought Hermione a present. A book. Well, of course it was a book. But she seemed to be happy with it regardless.

When he saw Sirius turn up one very early Saturday morning he rubbed his eyes and sleepily asked, "Sirius? Did you just come along? Why did you arrive here so early?"

Sirius seemed to be slightly startled when he saw Harry, but speedily recovered himself and airily replied, "Harry, good to see you. No, I err, I… I kinda arrived yesterday evening. Late in the evening."

Harry looked at him slightly confused. "Why didn't you come along? It was a Friday night, you know. Everybody stays up late. You might have come along and have had some fun!"

Sirius looked slightly guilty. "Well, err, as I said, I was late. Really late, you know. But hey, why don't we go to Hogsmeade together this afternoon? Or do you have quidditch training?"

Harry slowly nodded. There was still something that he was not getting. "Yeah," he replied absently. I've got quidditch training all afternoon. It's a pity, though. Would have been fun to go to Hogsmeade with you."

"It sure is," Sirius said airily. "Well, better luck next week. I'll see you around." And he was gone.

Harry looked after him, slightly dazed and vaguely irritated as he had the definite impression that something was off. Oh, well, perhaps he just suffered from sleep deprivation. It _had _been rather late, after all.

Harry was enjoying the feeling of air along his cheeks, circling high above the quidditch field that afternoon, when he suddenly saw two dark figures nearing the stands for the audience.

Must be Sirius, he thought and dived to greet his godfather quickly. He neared the stands with high speed, when he saw that he had been mistaken. It wasn't Sirius at all. Snape and Caldus were apparently deeply engaged in conversation. They had their heads bent towards each other and appeared to be oblivious of everything around them.

It must be an intimate conversation, Harry thought. Strange, actually, to see Snape like that. The potions master normally avoided everybody like the plague and he always acted as if physical distance was sacred to him.

He was on the point of turning around, when Caldus noticed him and waved. Harry waved back. Snape's eyes shot in Harry's direction and narrowed. He refrained from saying anything, however, and Harry flew away quickly, not feeling like another detention spent in Snape's presence.

Before they were out of side, however, he noticed the strange expression on Snape's face. A strange kind of bitter smirk. Odd. Very odd.

When the training was over, Harry hurriedly showered and went in the direction of the guestroom that Sirius usually occupied.

Impatiently he knocked at the door. "Sirius? Are you there?"

There was no answer. Strange. He hadn't been in the Gryffindor tower, and Harry had thought that he would have a reasonable chance of finding Sirius here.

He knocked once more, waited some more and there turned around, slightly disappointed.

When he had almost reached the corner in that hallway, he heard that the door opened. He quickly turned around. Sirius was standing in the doorway. He looked very tousled and his hair was messier than ever before. The look in his eyes was slightly bewildered and his cheeks were flushed. He just wore boxers and a shirt and he scratched his skull, yawning behind the palm of his hand.

Harry hesitantly put a step back. "Sirius? I'm sorry. I didn't think you might be asleep. I'll come back later."

Sirius gave him a slightly confused look and then smiled dazedly. "You do that, Harry," he said, slightly hoarsely. "I'm sorry. I'll see you tonight. Or perhaps tomorrow."

Harry returned to Gryffindor Tower feeling increasingly bewildered.

It went without saying that Sirius would spend Christmas at Hogwarts that year.

Harry was one of the first to enter the great hall through one of the side doors and was a moment spellbound by the beautiful way in which it was decorated. He was abruptly shaken out of his reverie, however, by the shouts and the laughter of his fellow Gryffindors. He immediately saw the reason for it.

Apparently Professor Dumbledore had seen fit to charm the mistletoe. Again. To be caught under it meant kissing your way out of it. At least, that was how Seamus was at present trying to help himself, with apparent success.

Harry grinned and leaned against the wall to enjoy the show. Not that Seamus minded. He took his time thoroughly kissing Ginny and pretending not to hear Dean's – Ginny's boyfriend's – shouts of laughter and indignation. Ginny's sqeaks of laughing protest didn't help her either, but when she finally got free, he pushed both Seamus and Millicent, who unhappily just passed by, back under the mistletoe. All the Gryffindors laughed uproariously.

Harry's grin deepened when he saw the tall figure of professor Caldus appear from out of the hallway. He whistled very softly and the Gryffindors noticed him as well. They effaced themselves in order to allow the professor free entrance to the hall – and strait into the mistletoe.

Caldus stiffened when he felt that the magic of the spell took hold of him, and he grabbed his wand, but it didn't help him much, as he apparently didn't know the counterspell for the charm.

The collected students again laughed out loud. For all his popularity they enjoyed the sight of the damsel in distress.

Caldus himself saw the mistletoe and laughed, understanding the reason for his problems. He looked around him, apparently trying to figure a way out of his situation. The students stood around him and shouted all kind of unhelpful suggestions.

"You might try to kiss yourself, professor," said Dean. "Perhaps the spell will be fooled."

"I'll go and fetch Filch for you, professor," called Seamus. "I'm sure he'll be delighted to help you out."

"That's very kind of you, Mr. Finnegan," Caldus said dryly. "Perhaps Mr Filch might indeed be of help." But he obviously looked around for a more attractive solution.

The students grinned. They understood that Caldus wouldn't kiss one of them, and there weren't any other professors around.

Then a voice from behind them sounded, asking what the hell they were all thinking, blocking the hallway like that.

Harry turned his head quickly, recognizing the voice of his godfather. "Sirius. I'm sorry, we were trying to help professor Caldus," he said with just a little bit too much glee.

Sirius' eye fell on the unfortunate professor and he grinned mischievously.

"You appear to be in dire circumstances, my dear sir," he said with a slight glint in his eye.

Caldus immediately caught his tune. "Indeed I am, my dear sir," he sighed, shaking his head dolefully. "I foresee no immediate end of my troubles. Honour forbids me to to burden one of these innocents with the task of freeing me, so I foresee death by dust overload. Or by being hit by with a door. You may never know, you know. One must be prepared for everything."

"A very wise course of action," Sirius grinned. "Is there no way in which you might be freed?"

"Alas," sighed Caldus with mock sadness, shaking his head and covering his eyes with his hands. "I'm afraid there is only one way out. Only somebody brave enough to kiss me may free me, or so I'm told."

"Ay," said Sirius, who enjoyed himself thoroughly. "Now, that is going to be a problem indeed. Whoever might be brave enough to do that?"

The students who were standing around now laughed themselves to tears. "Impossible, sir" gasped Ron. "You'll have to stand here until your true love kisses you."

Professor Caldus face fell comically. "Ay, I knew I should never have given my cat to the lady next door when I was eleven…"

Sirius laughed so loud that he had to support himself against the wall and was unable to speak for a moment. When he had composed himself he wiped the tears from his face. "Of course I could never match the grace of your cat, Caldus, but if you will allow me, I'll scrape all my courage and try to kiss your way out of this."

Caldus looked at him with slightly mocking eyes and said "Indeed, Mr. Black, I'm afraid you could never match my cat in any respect. But I admire your courage and I would truly appreciate the attempt."

Under the loud support of the students, who had gathered around them Sirius stepped towards Caldus and took his face in his hands. For a moment they looked in each other's eyes and grinned. Then Sirius kissed him roundly on his lips. Caldus was freed.

The students clapped in their hands and laughed. Caldus stepped back and made a mock bow to Sirius, with a gesture as if he were drawing his hat. Sirius returned the gesture with an equal mocking grace, and they both laughed and walked towards the high table.

No one saw professor Snape, who walked behind the students in the same direction, and who had apparently been standing in the shadows, observing the whole scene. He seemed to be looking at professor Caldus, smiling a bit melancholically.


	7. Dating

Double the trouble 

**Disclaimer**: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

FemmeLoki – Woot! Yes, my dear. You are the world's best. Do offer my apologies to your cat. I am most truly sorry. (Smiles…)   
Chapter Seven - Dating 

It was an unexpectedly beautiful day somewhere in January when Harry walked into Sirius' room. He had knocked, but he hadn't been all that careful. Or patient, for that matter. Sirius seemed to be surprised when he came in. He had been standing in front of an old and beautiful mirror and he appeared to be frustrated.

"Harry," Sirius exclaimed, apparently startled. He flushed and quickly put down what he held in his hand.

Harry looked at him a bit confused. "Sirius? Errm …, I … mmm … I'm sorry that I disturbed you… Shall I go away?"

"Oh, oh no," Sirius hastily said. "No, you're welcome. How was your quidditch training?"

Harry looked at him a bit sharper. "We haven't done any training today, Sirius. I told you about it. Next week. One of the beaters is in the infirmary."

Sirius flushed again. "Right, you told me. I'm sorry. My mind must have gone elsewhere. Ermmm…"

Silence.

Harry looked at Sirius in growing amazement. He had never seen the man this unsettled and nervous.

"Erm … Sirius, is something the matter? Do you have a problem with something? What were you doing when I came in?"

Silence. Sirius stared at his hands, grinning ruefully. Then he sighed. "Actually, Harry, I had hoped that I wouldn't have to tell you. I somehow don't know how to, you know… But well, I don't have secrets for my godson. Well, not many, that is."

Harry looked at him, still not understanding anything.

Sirius sighed again. "The truth is, you see, that I asked Serenus out on a date tonight. And now I'm messing up with my clothes, and, well… Oh hell, this is just being _stupid_."

Harry stared at him, shock-frozen for a moment. Then it burst out of him. "Serenus? You mean .. professor Caldus? Asked him on a date? But _why_? Oh, I mean, of course, but…"

He couldn't express himself any clearer than that. His mind seemed to stumble over itself and it ran about in confused circles.

Sirius looked at him and grinned in spite of himself. "Is the idea of two men dating so foreign to you, Harry?" he asked, not unkindly. A hint of his former uncertainty coloured his voice.

Harry just looked at him. Then it hit him. "Oh, no, that is not what I meant at all! I'm fine with that! It's just that I… I mean, professor Caldus… I like him, you know. Somehow I just didn't think it would… you would… Well, you know…"

"I think I do," Sirius grinned.

Some of his old self-confidence came back to him. He turned back to the mirror and sighed. He ran with both hands through his hair and took a deep before breath before he turned back to Harry. "What do I look like?" he nervously asked.

Harry had gotten the picture by then and did his utmost not to grin like a fool. "You look just fine, Sirius, I swear."

Sirius looked infinitesimally relieved and his shoulders sagged a very little bit. Then he shot a suspicious glance at Harry again, but Harry was prepared and sustained it bravely. Sirius through one last look into the mirror, sighed miserably and turned to leave.

Harry hastened to follow him. His cheeks started to ache with the suppression of his laughter, but he knew that some sacrifice had to be made in order to maintain a working relationship. He bravely kept his cribbling cheek muscles under control. His shoulders were not at all shaking and he had a fairly calm facial expression. He did his utmost to make his body language express polite interest at Sirius' well-being. Sirius wasn't entirely fooled, but for his own sake didn't search into it all too carefully.

With a sigh, he took himself off, and Harry looked after him, grinning. Imagine Sirius and Caldus walking around, holding hands. Hilarious. The image gave him a strange feeling in his chest, which he couldn't quite explain.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The next morning, Harry rose early and he jumped out of bed. He was just too curious to find out how Sirius had done on his date. It had been physically impossible to keep it a secret, and so he had told Ron and Hermione about Sirius' date in confidence.

To his amazement, they hadn't been all that surprised. Ron had been curious and also slightly disgusted – it was the same as imagining your parents having sex; Hermione had been so pragmatic about it that Harry had flinched and felt like hiding under the table.

None of them could predict how the date would be, though, and they spent a fair amount of time speculating.

Neither Sirius nor Caldus was present at the breakfast table and the three Gryffindors exchanged looks that measured how exactly that had to be interpreted. Ron rolled his eyes and grinned stupidly. Fortunately Hermione refrained from making any more remarks about preventives.

Harry finished his breakfast and rose with a sigh. It was clear that he was going to have to wait for news. There wasn't a chance that he was going to visit Sirius now. (His cheeks glowed at the mere thought of that.) He longed to go outside and play quidditch, but he must finally spend some time on revision. It had been far too long anyway and exams were rapidly approaching.

When he walked through the corridor on his way to the library, he bumped into a long, black and familiar figure. Professor Snape.

Startled, he looked up and felt the piercing, furious, red-rimmed, coal black eyes lance through him. "Oh, professor Snape, I … erm… I'm sorry, sir. I didn't watch where I was going."

Infuriated, the professor snarled, "You didn't watch, indeed. I wonder when I will finally no longer be gobsmacked by the sheer incapability that surrounds you, boy. Not to mention the utter disrespect. Detention. Report in my office at seven tonight."

And he stalked off.

Harry looked after him with an open mouth. Through the years he had become used to Snape's vitriolic ways of expression and the dislike with which he always treated Harry. But this was extreme even for him. It hadn't been the first time that Harry had bumped into him – some corridors were simply narrow – but Snape had never handed out a detention for an offence like this.

In fact – there was something odd about the man. Had his eyes really been red? Like in – as if he had cried? It was of course possible that his potions had caused this reaction, but in all his six-and-a-half-years at Hogwarts, Harry had never experienced this before. Not with Snape. And then – what was the man doing in the corridor at that time? Usually he would have been at breakfast much earlier. Or not at all. It was very strange.

Mystified, Harry entered the library and tried to concentrate.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

That afternoon, Harry finally came across Sirius, who was sitting in his room, grinning like a lovelorn fool. His mood was infectious, though, and Harry, Ron and Hermione, who had accompanied Harry eagerly asked how the date had been.

"Ah, well," Sirius evasively said, "it was just fine, you know."

He didn't get away with it. The blush that accompanied his words said it all and he was relentlessly teased by the three students.

In the end, it wasn't really a problem to make him talk. He obviously couldn't think about anything else.

"Ah, well, it was just fascinating, you know. The man is really very knowledgeable. He is an expert on dark arts. And the defense against them. And he's got humour, too. Sharp, dry humour…" Here Sirius trailed off, eyes turning dreamy.

Ron, Harry and Hermione exchanged speaking looks and persisted to milk Sirius for all the information he was worth.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

That evening, Harry directed his steps towards the dungeons for his detention.

Professor Snape was already expecting him. His mood seemed to unimproved. Well, Harry hadn't expected anything else. He didn't say anything, merely pointed toward a huge amount of cauldrons.

Harry didn't say anything either. He just went about the job, trying to look as industrious as possible, while keeping half an eye on Snape. The man was busy chopping and preparing ingredients on one of the nearby tables. Strange. Normally that was a job he left for the students in detention. Those cauldrons might just as well have been cleaned by magic, after all. His eyes still seemed to be red, but the ingredients he was working with weren't aggressive in the least. Subtly, Harry changed his position, so that he could observe his professor better. Snape didn't seem to notice.

At one point he blinked and momentarily raised the palm of his hand to his eyes. When he caught Harry's eyes, he dropped it as if it burned and barked at Harry to continue. Harry hastily dropped his eyes. He felt slightly ashamed, as if he had witnessed a very private moment.

The rest of the detention was carried out in awkward embarrassment, although Harry didn't know what to think of it all. He was deeply in thought when he returned to Gryffindor tower.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Harry was in no way surprised when the date repeated itself the next Saturday. And the next. After the first time, Sirius didn't seem to be so excited about his appearance anymore, although he still fussed around before a date. And he still became dreamy and smilish when professor Caldus was mentioned.

Caldus himself was fast becoming a very popular professor. His classes were always very interesting and challenging and the practical tasks his set his students were so creative and complicated, that it took a lot to accomplish them. The seventh years felt that they were learning a lot in a very short time and they were confidently looking forward to their exams.

Harry secretly studied him a lot, wondering what was it that made him such an attractive figure. He wasn't particulary handsome. He could be downright severe, and sometimes nasty, when something didn't work out the way he wanted it. His nastiness was accompanied by a very dry and sharp humour, that could hurt as well as flame.

His students forgave him when he had been sharp. His humour was so dead on, that they were challenged to do more, and better, and in the end they were amazed by their own progress. But they had a very healthy respect for their teacher's tongue.

Harry lingered after the lesson, sometimes, drawn by a desire to get to know his teacher better, to find out what kind of man hid behind the teacher's façade.

Yet, this seemed to be impossible. For all his friendly ways and supportive attitude, the man was very reserved, apparently unwilling to reveal much about his personal life, or about Sirius.

He looked at Harry with friendly mockery in his eyes, as he assured him, that he was fine, thank you very much for your interest, Mr. Potter, and that it was about time that Harry left for his next class.

He became even more reserved, and slightly cold, when Harry, carefully, brought the conversation to the subject of professor Snape. Harry was informed in no uncertain terms, that professor Snape was a teacher at Hogwarts, that as such he deserved Harry's respect, and that gossiping was not his style.

Slightly humiliated, Harry left the classroom.

After that, Harry took to more discrete ways of gathering information. He took out his father's old invisibility cloak, and timed his action carefully.

He knew that Caldus and Sirius would have another date, judging from Sirius' suppressed excitement. He took the Marauders Map and kept an eye on Sirius' room. About eight that night, Caldus entered the room. Judging from their footsteps, Sirius seemed to be walking straight towards him and they were standing next to the door, right in front of each other, for quite some time.

Harry studied the map with a strange feeling in his stomach.

After a while, they left Sirius' room and headed out of the castle. Quickly, Harry donned his father's cloak and followed them stealthily. He felt slightly guilty about it, but it was impossible _not _to do it…

Outside, it was dark already, but the sky was clear. It was a very beautiful night. The two men in front of Harry seemed to think so as well, for they halted their steps and looked up. Harry saw that Sirius extended his hand to Caldus and that the other allowed it – for a while, before he drew back.

They continued their way to Hogsmeade and didn't talk much.

When they had reached the Three Broomsticks they entered quickly, and Harry managed to sneak in after them just in time. The pub wasn't very crowded, as it was still early in the evening, and Sirius and Caldus found a table in a very quiet corner, with only one old candle on it. It barely lit anything but their faces, but they seemed to be comfortable with that.

Their table was standing on a slightly higher part of the floor. Harry sat down on de edge as quietly as possible. As it turned out, that was relatively close to his professor. It gave him the chance to understand everything they said, but he would have to be very careful with the noises he made. He still felt guilty about his eavesdropping, but for some reason, he couldn't let go. Something drew him to these two men like a moth to the flame.

In the beginning, neither man said much. They shortly ordered their diner when Rosmerta came to them and asked for a bottle of red wine. Sirius was looking at Caldus with a very warm expression in his eyes, that Harry hadn't seen before. Caldus was looking out of the window, even although there wasn't much to be seen, and occasionally let his eyes wander through the pub. Harry wondered at it.

Suddenly there was a loud noise behind them, followed by loud cursing. One of the more inebriated visitors had fallen off his stool and was sitting in a pool of firewhiskey, surrounded by laughter.

Harry looked at them and smiled secretly before he turned his eyes back to Caldus and Sirius. Sirius had also been distracted by the noise, and he was still looking at the crowd, laughing and cheering.

But Harry was distracted by the look on Caldus' face. For the first time since they had entered the pub, his eyes were glued to Sirius' face and a myriad of emotions made his eyes burn. It was the first time that Harry had seen the man so off guard.

The look in his eyes was so intense that Harry slightly shivered and unconsciously checked if his cloak still covered him. What did that expression mean? Dislike? Could that be? But also fascination, admiration, hatred, affection, anger, love…

Harry shook his head. He must be imagining things.

The noise died down and the fallen man was standing among his friends again. The whole scene had taken less than a minute. Sirius turned around again and Harry noted that Caldus quickly turned his eyes away. Sirius hadn't seen anything.

For a while they sat there again, peacefully, each wrapped in his own thought. Harry began to wonder of this would continue like this.

"I hear that you covered dark curses today," Sirius suddenly said. "Harry told me all about it."

Caldus nodded pensively. "Yes, I think that some knowledge of them is essential, even though the dark lord has been vanquished."

"You are undoubtedly right. I wondered, though, if you think the blood freezing curse could be modified, so that I might actually have some beneficial effect?"

Caldus looked interested. "What situations are you thinking of?"

"Well, you know that the curse means to freeze the blood of the victim, so that the heart stops beating and the victim dies painfully. But perhaps a modified version might be useful in mediwizardry? During operations for example."

Caldus frowned pensively. "It might be possible," he said, "if it weren't for the risks involved. "It would take a very highly skilled mediwizard, or the patient would die. As you know, with the freezing curse, the articulation is very important. It might have disastrous results if the mediwizard were to make a mistake. I think it would be far easier to give the patient a blood-cooling potion and proceed."

"Does such a potion even exist?"

"Not really, no. But I imagine that the cooling potion, which does in fact exist, could be modified without trouble. As a matter of fact, that is not at all a bad idea. I must remember that."

Sirius looked at him fascinated. "You do know a lot about potions, don't you? I noticed it before."

Caldus looked slightly flustered. "Thank you. Yes, potions have always interested me."

"It's a pity that you already teach Defense," Sirius said pensively. "You might teach potions, you know. Perhaps we would finally get rid of the greasy git."

Caldus' hands suddenly clenched and his body jerked strangely. "You really do hate him, don't you?"

Sirius (and Harry) looked at him a little bit surprised. "Yes, I do. It's no secret either. Why do you ask? Do you have a history with Snape? Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing," Caldus said.

Harry couldn't help but notice that his voice sounded distracted and cold.

Sirius seemed to notice it as well, for he frowned, but he shook it off and waved to Rosmerta for another bottle of red wine.

The moment, Sirius turned away to ask Rosmerta for the bottle, Caldus' eyes were glued on Sirius' face again. If his look had been intense before, it was nothing compared to what it was now. Harry was startled when he saw the expression of utter disgust, of pain, hurt, longing, love and despair on his professor's face. It wasn't more than a moment, though, before Sirius turned around again, and Harry once more wondered if he had been wrong.

Their wine arrived, and the conversation once more turned toward general and safe topics.

Sirius returned to the subject of dark arts and potions and they conversed at great length. Caldus really seemed to be an expert on both.


	8. Falling in Love

**Everybody** – I'm very sorry to have taken such a long time to update! If you're still there, please enjoy! And if you do – let me know!

**Chapter Eight - Falling in Love**

The next day Harry was walking along the shores of the lake, idly throwing pebbles into the water. He hadn't told his friends what had happened the day before, confused as he was about it. It was hard to explain what the problem was, really. After all, what had happened at all? He had spied on a date between two grown men. Nothing wrong had happened, nothing untoward had been discussed. The whole thing had been conducted in peace and harmony. What did it mean when they didn't look each other in the eye the entire time? It would have been more strange if they _had_.

So what if Caldus had appeared a bit distracted? The man was most probably tired. He had a full time job, after all. Harry must have imagined the expression in his eyes. Or hadn't he? Well, perhaps he hadn't. But that still didn't mean anything, Harry thought with a small smile. It often happened that people who were in love were fighting all the time. Just look at Ron and Hermione. But his own reasoning didn't entirely convince him.

He had been walking for a long time, when he was startled out of his distraction at hearing a soft sound. He looked back and saw that the castle was much further away than he had thought. He must have been walking far longer than he had realized. He looked up and saw Sirius and Caldus, standing on the shores of the lake, apparently staring at the water. They were partly hidden from view by the large bushes that surrounded them. Without thinking about it first, Harry crept a bit closer, choosing a position that allowed him better view.

Sirius and Caldus were standing on the shores of the lake. They both seemed to be in thought, staring out over the waves. It was a beautiful day. There was a soft breeze and the sun was lighting the waves, lending colour and depth to everything around them.

For a while they just stood there, saying nothing. Then Sirius' hand slowly moved towards Caldus and Harry could see that their hands entwined.

Sirius turned his head towards Caldus. Caldus himself was still just looking out over the water. Sirius raised his other hand to touch Caldus' cheek. That finally brought a reaction from the other man. Caldus turned his head and looked at Sirius. Sirius gently stroked his cheek, then entwined his fingers in Caldus' hair and slowly drew him closer.

Harry watched breathlessly. He didn't know what it was that always gave him a strange feeling around these two, but he couldn't for the life of him turn his eyes away.

Caldus and Sirius looked each other into the eyes. Their faces slowly got closer to each other. Time seemed to stand still. Their lips neared each other, hesitated, then parted again. Slowly, but briefly, their lips touched.

Then Caldus jerked back as if he had burned himself. Harry was startled by the sudden movement, and so was Sirius.

Before Sirius could say anything, Caldus jumped back and raised shaking fingers towards his lips. He shook his head and looked around him as if looking for a chance to escape.

"I… I'm sorry," he hoarsely said. "I cannot do this. I'm sorry, Sirius, but I… please excuse me…"

He turned around as if he meant to leave, but by then Sirius regained his senses and grabbed his arm.

"What do you mean, you cannot do this? Why can you not? What's wrong?"

At that question, Caldus laughed, if slightly hysterically.

"Nothing, there is nothing, I just…"

He jerked his arm as if to free himself, but Sirius very brutally held him close to him. "I don't understand. What is wrong with you? What's the matter? Why are you shying away?" And then, as if a sudden thought struck him, "It… it's not as if… I mean… You are certain you're into men, are you? This… this isn't just fooling around, is it?"

But his face glowed when he said it and he unconsciously seemed to loosen Caldus' arm a little bit. It must have been a difficult thing to say the words.

"If you want to be out of this, fine. But not without a decent explanation."

But his voice didn't sound nearly as firm as his choice of words. In fact, it sounded remarkably unsteady.

Caldus sighed and abruptly sat down, once more looking out over the water. "You are not the reason, Sirius," he sighed. "I am."

Sirius sat beside him as well.

"Explain," he shortly said.

But it seemed that an explanation was beyond Caldus. He just sat there and was silent.

Uncharacteristically, Sirius did nothing to push him. He just sat there next to him and waited. They both looked out over the water.

After what seemed like an eternity, Caldus sighed and turned his head to look at Sirius.

"It is hard to explain, actually. You know, there seems to be nothing that might stand between us in the way of a relationship. But somehow I cannot just let myself go and see where things will lead to. It is as if I am waiting for disaster to happen, you know. I don't know. It seems unfair."

For a while, Sirius sat silent, while he was digesting that statement.

Finally, an unwilling smile curved the corner of his mouth. "Well, it is not as if we actually have to do anything, you know? We might just take it slow and wait and see where it leads us. Whoever said that it is heterosexuals who go for the 'till death do us part' variety? It is not as if our bloody life depends on it, now does it?"

At that, Caldus seemed to relax a little bit and he leaned back again. "Yes, well, I suppose you are right," he slightly sourly replied.

Sirius grinned and sounded much like himself again. "I'm sure I am, you know. Actually, it is a slight reassuring that we won't have to fight about bathroom rights in the near future. Many a good marriage has been broken over that one, let me assure you…"

Caldus grinned, apparently relaxing a bit more.

For a while they just sat there again, looking out over the water, meditating. But this time, Harry could see, that Caldus looked at Sirius a lot out of the corner of his eye. He wasn't sitting quietly at all either. Instead, he seemed to be fidgeting around, uneasy, never at rest. He stayed where he was, however, not allowing himself to get closer to Sirius than he already was.

After a while, Sirius finally sighed and turned to Caldus again. "Well," he said with a rueful smile, "let's get back to the castle then, shall we?"

Caldus just nodded and they both rose.

When they were both in the act of getting to their feet, Sirius clumsily seemed to stumble and landed right into Caldus' arms. Who hadn't expected anything of the kind, apparently, and thus fell ungraciously back unto the ground, with Sirius on top of him.

Harry softly snickered when he saw them. It was a long time ago that he seen anything that suspiciously fake. But when he saw how the two men looked at each other, his breath hitched.

For the first time since Harry had observed them in being together, Caldus seemed to look at Sirius intensely and unguardedly. The look he had previously preserved for when Sirius was not looking.

It was intense, filled with love, hatred, scorn, amusement, tenderness, disgust and affection and it made Harry's breath hitch and his toes curl. For a moment they just looked at each other. Then Caldus raised his shaking hands and grabbed the back of Sirius' head in a way that must have been painful. "Oh, you blindingly obvious, stupid, foolish son of a bitch," he said hoarsely, his voice raw with some unnamed but intense emotion, and kissed Sirius.

Sirius, for all his cunning, was taken entirely by surprise and in the first few moments just let it happen. They he seemed to gather his wits about him and kissed back.

Harry felt himself go cold and hot at the same time while watching them. It was striking, hotly passionate, and it felt so very wrong to be watching them while they were together like this. But he couldn't do anything else but watching them. Apart from the fact that his leaving would have alarmed them.

For long moments, the two men were locked together in what seemed to be like an endless embrace. Then Caldus seemed to gather his wits about him and started to extricate himself.

"I'm sorry, but I meant what I said, you know. I can't rush into this like that…"

Sirius looked at him, then slowly released him. He sighed once, deeply, then nodded and helped Caldus getting up. "I know. I understand. It is alright."

And without another word, they turned to head back to the castle.

Harry stayed behind, having trouble to believe what he had just witnessed.


	9. On the Joys of Pretending

Risi, Shakespeare's Sister – thank you both so very much for your reviews! I don't deserve the two of you, having been so slow in the updating, but I really appreciate your comments! (Oh, and I do hope you like the rest of the story, I am a bit uncertain about it… Still, read and enjoy!)

Chapter Nine – On the Joys of Pretending 

Harry was rather shaken by what he had seen, but he didn't know why that was. It wasn't as if he had problems with his godfather getting involved with someone. That it was a man had been an eye opener, but Harry felt that he could accept that.

If he was alone, and in the dark of the night, and in an exceptionally honest mood, he could admit that he was slightly jealous. He felt ashamed of it, but it was true. Before, he had always had Sirius' undivided attention and love. He would have to share it in the future. Still, Harry felt that he could accept this as well. That wasn't what caused the strange feeling in his stomach. But then what was it?

Something in this relationship was off. But what? Sirius seemed very happy. He was calmer, quieter, and there was something in his eyes that hadn't been there previously.

Harry couldn't really tell how professor Caldus felt about it. He didn't know the man so very well, after all, and the professor was no person one got to know really quickly. For all his friendly ways and his agreeable nature, he was rather reserved, and Harry felt that it would take a long time before he really got to know him.

However, this pensive mood didn't last long. In the days that followed, Harry had increasing troubles to remain strait-faced when confronted with either Sirius or Caldus. Not that either of them noticed. They were far too occupied with pretending that everything was normal.

Well, to be fair, they didn't do too bad a job, Harry had to admit. It took an entire week before Ron casually started to ask Harry whether Sirius would stay at the castle permanently. Harry honestly answered that he didn't have the slightest idea.

Hermione didn't need to be told. Harry never found out if she had known before he had, but he didn't care to ask. The triumphant glimpse in her eyes was bad enough as it was, thank you very much.

Of course, the twinkle in the headmasters' eyes was never very far away, still, Harry didn't have any trouble to ascertain, that the old man did, in fact, know everything there was to know.

But all in all, the information concerning Sirius and Caldus was still very much a secret. It was only when Harry caught professor McGonagall in a very near smile, and the exchange of a very speaking look between professors Flitwick and Hooch, that Harry started to wonder when they would finally get it themselves.

One thing he knew for sure though – he wasn't going to ask Sirius about it. Not when Sirius had announced with such an innocent face again what a pleasure it was, that he had so many opportunities to visit Harry these days. Nope, Harry would keep his mouth shut. Well, if he were entirely honest to himself – the show was far too entertaining.

And apart from that, there was one other puzzle that needed solving very badly. Snape.

For the life of him, Harry couldn't figure the man out. Well, of course, he never had been able to. Well, there was the short moment, directly after the death of Voldemort, that some small amount of joy shone out of Snape's eyes, but that might have been due to the magic of the moment, so to speak.

No, as far as Harry was concerned, Snape was a riddle. Always had been. Which didn't give the man the right to be more annoying than usual.

But he was. Annoyingly so. If only he would display a consistent pattern of behaviour, but of course he didn't. He had to be annoying and irregular. At quite a few moments, Harry caught him staring at Sirius and Caldus with an unholy glee in his eyes, as if there was something only he was aware of.

But far more often, there was a disturbing sadness in his eyes, that unsettled Harry more than he cared to admit. He couldn't understand it. Snape wasn't jealous, was he? No, he didn't look like that. But then what was it? He could hardly be sad that Sirius wasn't interested in pulling off fights with him anymore, now could he?

All in all, the occupants of the head table made for an interesting spectacle these days, that was true.

It was a few weeks after on a Friday evening, that Sirius came into the Gryffindor common room. He was eagerly greeted by Harry, Ron and Hermione, who were bored after too many games of chess. He took in the cosy common room and grinned. "Harry, do you three feel like going for a visit to Hogwarts tomorrow? Let's have a few butterbeers."

They wholeheartedly agreed. "Sure, Sirius, we would love to," Hermione innocently said. "Will Professor Caldus join us too?"

Sirius choked and looked at Harry accusingly. Harry just shook his head and raised his hands in laughing defense.

"I didn't say anything, I swear. I didn't need to. You look like a newly lit lighthouse these days. I doubt there is anyone in the school who _doesn't_ know."

Sirius turned a bit red, but he grinned like a schoolboy.

"So, you found us out," he said. And then, slightly nervous "Are you okay with it?"

"Oh, I think it is a great thing," Harry said quickly, and asked himself why that felt like a lie. "Professor Caldus is a great teacher, you know. Everybody likes him."

Sirius nodded and relaxed again. "He sure is," he said slightly dreamy. "He knows his stuff, you know. But that's not it. He's just fun, he has such a great sense of humour. Sharp and dry, but great."

Harry and Ron just grinned and Hermione rolled her eyes. Sirius blushed again.

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Apart from thoroughly enjoying the butterbeer and the absence from Hogwarts, the afternoon proved to be a real delight to Harry, Ron and Hermione. It was ironic, thought Harry, that the embarrassment of two people could add so much to the amusement of others. Well, better not go there.

Professor Caldus apparently tried to hold onto some morals. He seemed to be of the opinion that a professor shouldn't play footsie under the table, while in the company of students. Or hold hands. Or look his – ahem – boyfriend into the eye.

Sirius agreed with him, apparently, as it wasn't Sirius who sought Caldus's hand. Under the table. Mostly. Instead, Caldus' hand seemed to have an annoying life of it's own.

The professor blushed to his roots and stubbornly tried to hold onto the – official – conversation. Above the table. And he seemed to be interested in it too, for from time to time he asked Ron some not too farfetched or too often repeated questions about quidditch. He even appeared to get the gist of the answers with which Ron dutifully supplied him.

Ron and Harry grinned like mad when they agreed with their professor, that yes, it was a pity that muggles didn't play quidditch, that it should be played on brooms was a waste, really, that rain was too bad, especially for the spectators, and pretended not to hear it when the professor mixed up beaters and keepers. Ah, well, Sirius didn't appear to have noticed either.

Hermione had never looked more interested in the game, either, and diligently joined in the conversation. It was glorious.

Sirius blushed all colours of red, and after a while, he just gave it up. He raised his hand, Caldus' interlinked hand still attached to it, above the table, laughed, and turned Caldus towards him.

"You know, Serenus, I know that we agreed not to tell anybody, and thus I promise you that I won't tell these three here that I like you, but between the two of us I just need to tell you once more. I really do like you, you know."

And with that, he drew the unsuspecting Caldus towards him, and kissed him full on the lips.

Caldus literally froze. His free hand still gripped his butterbeer. Hermione plucked it from his hand before he could smash it. Caldus didn't seem to notice.

His eyes were opened wide. His whole body was tense. For a moment, Harry thought that he was going to break free and run. But then something seemed to change in him and he relaxed into the kiss.

His hand on the table shook slightly and his other hand released Sirius' hand only to cup Sirius' head at the base of his neck. He turned their heads slightly and nibbled at Sirius' mouth. He lifted his other hand to draw Sirius closer to him.

Sirius groaned softly and drew Caldus even closer, both hands along the other man's chest. Their mouths parted for a moment, only to come together again, very lightly brushing each other, retracting for a moment, then coming back together. Caldus allowed his tongue to play with Sirius' lips, before he returned and silently begged Sirius to open them. Sirius did so immediately, and their tongues played and playfully dueled.

Harry, Ron and Hermione watched breathlessly, their drinks forgotten on the table. It was – for lack of a better word – hot.

For a moment their mouths retracted again, and Caldus and Sirius looked each other into the eye. But it seemed that they couldn't let go of each other – that they were drawn, and had to kiss, and kiss again.

Caldus gripped Sirius' shoulders and drew him closer and closer. Sirius groaned, but followed willingly. His hands moved restlessly along Caldus' shoulders, arms and chest, then came back to grip his shoulders once more.

Caldus shuddered and left Sirius' mouth to kiss his entire face, his jaw line, his cheekbones, his forehead and eyelids.

For some reason, it was an incredibly loving and tender gesture.

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked on and didn't dare to move in case they disturbed the two men in front of them. Ron looked flustered. Hermione, for all her wisdom, blushed to the roots of her hair. Harry felt flushed, the strange feeling increasing tenfold in his stomach.

It was only at a particularly loud shout of laughter at a neighbouring table, that Sirius and Caldus jumped apart.

Caldus raised a shaking hand to his lips, and stared at Sirius as if he had grown another head. He wildly looked at his students, expression in his eyes like a deer caught in the light.

"You… I… I need to go, I…"

"Wait! Serenus, please, just wait!"

But professor Caldus didn't seem to hear him, he fumbled with the clasps of his robes and would have stumbled out of the pub if Sirius hadn't caught him with a very quick move.

"Serenus, please, wait. You cannot run of like this. Not after… I mean…"

Caldus tried to draw his hand back, but he had clearly lost the mad impulse to run out of the pub like that.

For the first time after the kiss, they both seemed to remember the presence of the three students.

That seemed to be the last shock, that finally brought Caldus back to his senses. He fell heavily back into his chair, raised his hands to his face, and groaned comically.

"Oh dear god. I'm not going to get away with this, am I?"

"Nope," said Sirius, grinning like mad.

Ron and Hermione leaned back into their chairs and laughed with Sirius. It was funny, Harry had to admit. And somehow it was a relief, that the awkward feeling in his chest loosened a little bit.

Finally, their distraught professor raised his head again and resignedly looked at his students. "There is no keeping this secret, is there?"

"No, professor, I'm sorry, but it doesn't help to kiss in the middle of a pub, you know?" Hermione laughed.

When she said that, Caldus appeared to remember where he was again. From all around the pub, people looked at their table, big smiles on their faces. He flushed, a rueful smile on his face.

Sirius followed his eyes, and then grinned. He looked at Caldus and grinned again. "I'm sorry, old chap, but Hermione is just right. Nothing for it but to acknowledge it, you know?"

And with that, he turned Caldus around again, and kissed him full on the lips once more.

And grinned when he heard the resounding applause.


	10. At More Than One Place

**Shakespeare's sister** – the thanks all go out to you! I'm so happy with your reviews! Hope you like the rest as well!

**Hebi R.** – Thank you! Hope you keep thinking it!

**Farfkiller **– you know – you're dead on. Please tell me what you think of the rest…

**Chapter Ten – On the Capability of Teachers to be at More Than One Place At the Same Time**

The news ran through the school like wildfire and the next day, there wasn't another topic of conversation. Sirius' role in the war had been acknowledged and his name had been cleared. But there was still a slight aura of strangeness and darkness around him. Something that oddly clashed with his general good humour and outgoing ways. Something that seemed to explain the quiet fits of broodiness and silence that sometimes apparently befell him. He had his moods when he would withdraw from all society and sit in a dark corner, silently looking in front of him. Fingers plucking at some unfortunate piece of clothing. It always took hours, but then he seemed to shake it away from him, and was the old, outgoing, laughing Sirius again. Well, mostly. There was a shadow in the back of eyes. But it had always been there, and Harry had stopped thinking about it anymore.

It was vastly interesting, that this mysterious man had put up with their equally interesting professor Caldus. In the short time that Caldus had stayed at Hogwarts, he had made himself very popular. There hadn't been that many Defense professors who were actually good, apart from Professor Lupin, and most of the students enjoyed his lessons. But Professor Caldus also had his more unknown side. Nobody seemed to have heard from him ever before. He was strict, but friendly, but he was hardly open. He never told anything about himself, never mentioned a life before Hogwarts and withdrew into himself if students asked him about himself. And he was a Defense teacher. A good one at that. Hm. An escaped Azkaban convict – not that anybody said that around Sirius – and a Defense teacher. All in all, they made for a very interesting pairing and their engagement counted for hours of conversation.

When Sirius went to sit next to professor Caldus, the following day at diner, there were many smiles and a whisper went through the hall. Sirius grinned and nodded to acknowledge it. Caldus, much more stiffly, nodded as well. Harry looked at them and smiled with his class mates when they sat down.

In the days and weeks that followed, quiet returned to Hogwarts. More or less. Once the students had got used to it, little was said about it. Caldus and Sirius seemed to get the hang of acting more discretely, and there weren't any more snogging sessions in the pub. In the presence of Students, that was.

Harry still wasn't entirely easy about their whole relationship. There was something about the whole of it. Professor Caldus had apparently got used to the thought that everybody knew about his being in love, but he still wasn't at ease with public displays of affection.

This was a source of amusement for many students – apparently it was the only way they could make Caldus lose his calm and flush. They tried it often, much to the discomfort of their professor.

But Harry thought that this wasn't the only reason for the uneasy feeling in his stomach. Caldus didn't appear to be the same person all the time. Harry, observing and wondering, thought that the professor seemed to impersonate more than one person. One day, he would laughingly hold hands with Sirius in the great hall during diner, grinning and answering the students' comments, the next day he wouldn't react to Sirius and keep to himself. One day he would be very affectionate, at another he would be sharp and put out at Sirius' remarks.

And there was one other mystery that remained to be solved. Snape. There was always Snape. Caldus was apparently the only Defense professor that Snape had ever got on with. At least, he never sneered about Caldus the way he had done in the past. This relative friendliness seemed to bring him to a new relationship with Sirius. That is – he didn't sneer quite so much and Sirius was too busily engaged otherwise.

Snape's mood seemed to vary a lot as well. One day he would walk around smugly, as if he had accomplished something major, another he would look as a beaten and broken dog. Someday he had those suspiciously red eyes again, at others he would look so gleefully evil at Sirius, that Harry felt the beginnings of panic in his chest.

Of one thing, Harry was sure: Snape was hiding something, and it was no good. The man couldn't be trusted, that was for sure. And it had to do with Sirius and Caldus. Dead sure. But why did the man look so miserable at times? Why did he look as if the had lost the one thing that was beautiful in his life?

But there wasn't much time left to ponder. He was far too busy with lessons, homework and quidditch. So Harry shrugged and put the matter out of his mind.

It wasn't until a few weeks, that Harry's attention was abruptly drawn towards his godfather's relationship once more.

It was at a cold, but very beautiful day in March, with a bright blue sky and the promise of spring. Harry was walking towards the changing rooms. He had just had a very vigorous quidditch and he was feeling exhausted and energetic at the same time. He was thinking about their next match. If they could just play like that in the next match against Ravenclaw… Not that their keeper wasn't very good… He must think of some strategy… Hmmm… Corner tactics…

Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed Professor Caldus, who was disappearing inside the castle and smiled to himself. Caldus must have met Sirius somewhere again.

Having showered and changed, he went on his way to the library. It was about time that he finally finished that essay for Professor Snape, on the properties of…

Wait a moment. Wasn't that Professor Snape, right around the corner? Best wait instead of jumping in on him again, then. But no, it wasn't Snape. It was Caldus, loaded with books and coming from the library. Remarkable, really, how much Caldus and Snape looked like each other, in terms of silhouette…

Wait a moment. Where would Caldus have had the time to gather all those books? He could hardly have had the time to select them all. He had hardly had more time than Harry himself. Hm. Strange. Oh, well, Harry argued, he probably selected them in advance.

He walked into the library and immediately spotted Hermione. She was surrounded by piles of books and seemed oblivious to her surroundings. Harry grinned and walked in her direction. She looked up, and vaguely blinked before she recognized him.

"Oh, Harry, it's you. About to finish that essay? Look what I've found on the properties of water in the Defense of magical property. Did you know that the lake was so important to us? I mean, Voldemort could have walked right in without it. I just came back from a conversation with Professor Caldus this afternoon, and it was amazing. He suggested that I write this extra-credit essay on…"

Harry stared at her. "You just had a conversation with Caldus? Can't have been a very long conversation, now can it? I just saw him outside!"

Hermione frowned at him. "What are you talking about? Of course I had a long conversation with him. It was in his office. I spent at least an hour there. Why, he…"

She stopped talking, realizing by now that something was wrong.

"Hermione, are you sure that was Caldus? I mean – he can't have been different places at the same time, now can he?"

Hermione seemed to be stunned for a moment. Then, slowly, "but Harry, are you quite sure that you really saw Caldus? I mean, if you just saw a robe, it might have been everybody, you know?"

Harry frowned. "You know, I was thinking the same thing. In fact, for a moment, I thought it was Snape. It is strange how much they look alike, in a way. But I'm not mistaken. It was Caldus. It was just that same way he moves his shoulders when he walks, you know? No, something is going on here. But what?"

"If you really think that, you should go to Professor Dumbledore, Harry, Hermione said urgently. Think about it. There are still Death Eaters at large. It could be dangerous!"

Harry stared at her. "I can't do that! Sirius would kill me. And rightly so! Let's go tell him!"

"And find out that there is some very innocent explanation for all of it? He would be hurt!"

Harry sighed. "We need to find out more about it," he said determinedly. As he said it, the first glimmer of an idea formed itself in his head. Hermione saw it in his eyes and said urgently, "please go talk to Professor Dumbledore, Harry. You might talk to him in confidence!"

But Harry just nodded and said, "well, I want to find more about this myself first, Hermione. I can always talk to Dumbledore when all else fails."

And nothing Hermione said after that could change his mind about it.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Harry planned his action really carefully. He knew that Caldus always had an afternoon class on Thursday, when Harry had a free study period. Caldus would be in his classroom and Harry would have a free hour and a half to explore his rooms.

He felt slightly guilty about spying on a professor who had never done anything to deserve that. Hell, he liked the man. But he had the gut feeling that something about Caldus was very, very wrong.

When he had reached the professor's rooms – safely hidden under the cloak and with the guidance of the map – he carefully looked around and quickly entered, his heart hammering in his chest.

He rushed inside the rooms and made haste to close the door behind him. Thus it was a minute before he could take his surroundings in. They amazed him, although he couldn't place his finger on the reason why that was so.

The rooms were decorated stylishly, even if they definitely lacked a personal touch. There were not a lot of books in it, which slightly amazed Harry, thinking about his professor's proclaimed preference for them, but perhaps it made sense. He hadn't lived here for a long time. Perhaps he still needed to time to collect. Harry quickly glanced at the books. Hm. Defense and potions, mostly. Come to think of it, a lot of potions texts for a Defense teacher. Hm. Well, Sirius had said that the man was a crack at them. That would explain it…

There was also this strange smell… What was that again? It reminded Harry of something. Willow? No… Hm. That strange stuff they used in the greenhouses? Hm. Perhaps. But no, it reminded Harry of the potions classroom. Boomslang skin. Strange smell. And leeches, too. Why would Caldus need that? It wasn't as if he was brewing potions here, now would he? A quick look around him confirmed this. There were no cauldrons or anything that might indicate actual brewing. Come to think of it – perhaps the man hid something in his closet?

Harry opened the doors to the man's wardrobe and wondered at its contents. He didn't have much in the way of a wardrobe himself, but what Caldus owned was really pathetic. Only two or three spare robes and hardly anything else. Surely the man couldn't live with just that? He had to have more. Where was the rest?

But wherever Harry looked, there wasn't much to be found in the way of clothing. Could the man be poor? Well, he didn't make that impression in the least. So where did he keep the rest of his stuff?

There were very few personal belongings in his rooms either. No pictures at all of his family. Nothing on the walls. No personal papers apart from student essays and a teacher's administration.

It was as if the man had never lived in this room.

With an increasingly ill feeling Harry walked around the room. How was it possible that Sirius had never noticed any of this? Or perhaps he had? He now remembered that Caldus and Sirius seemed to come together mostly in Sirius' rooms. Well, it was more practical, as Caldus's rooms did seem to be in some slightly removed corner of the castle.

He was about to leave the room, when he caught the glimmer of something red pit of the corner of his eye. It was a small object, nearly hidden under the bed. Harry bent and picked it up. He frowned in amazement. It was a chain, with a little red heart.


	11. The Polyjuice Potion

**Shakespeare's sister, Silverthreads** – Thank you both so very much! Hope you enjoy the rest as well!

**Duj** – With regard to chapter 5 – well that was a sneaky reference to a story called Occasional Table, by Predatrix and Fuchsia. Do you know it? I can highly recommend it… Thanks for your review! Oh, and by the way – I like your stories very well as well! Especially Everything I've Ever Done.

**Risi, kyer, Hebi R.** – Well, I can only say –hope you like the way the story turns out…(Smiley...)

**Chapter Eleven – The Polyjuice Potion and What it May Mean**

With doubts pressing heavily on him, Harry entered the tower again. Hermione raised her eyebrows at him in a silent question.

He nodded and moved his head slightly in the direction of a silent corner. Hermione took up her things and sat down next to him.

She looked at him and when he did not immediately say something burst out, "Well, out with it, Harry! Did you find something in his rooms or not?"

Harry didn't wonder at her having figured out where he had been and just miserably shook his head. "No. But there is something wrong here, 'Mione. I'm sure of it. I mean, not even _I_ could live with so few clothes. He is like Lockhart reversed!"

Hermione just blinked at him. "Indeed," she weakly said. "Too bad for you, Harry. How about starting at the beginning?"

Harry sighed deeply, gave himself a start and told her more or less chronologically what he had – or hadn't – found in Caldus' rooms.

When he had finished Hermione remained silent for a few moments, pondering.

"Well, I don't know what to make of it, Harry. It surely sounds strange. No personal things. Hardly any clothing. No signs that he actually lives there? But where does he live if not there? You don't think he keeps all of his things in Sirius' rooms, do you? More texts on potions than on defense? You didn't be any chance notice the specifics, did you? Smell of – what was it? Boomslang skin? Leeches? Are you sure it was boomslang and no adder's tail? You do know that boomslang is one of the main ingredients in the Polyjuice potion, don't you?"

Harry froze and than sat upright with a rough movement. "Polyjuice – 'Mione, could that be it?

Hermione just stared at him.

"Why? What do you mean, Harry? Who would Caldus have polyjuiced into? I mean, it doesn't make sense!"

Harry stared at her. "No, I mean, could someone else have polyjuiced into Caldus? You know – could he be someone else? But there aren't anymore death eaters around anymore, are there? Why would anyone take the trouble to go teaching at Hogwarts in someone else's shape?"

Hermione frowned uneasily. "I don't know, Harry. But I do think you should go to professor Dumbledore with this. Perhaps he already knows about this?"

"Right," Harry coldly said. "And how am I going to explain that I was in Caldus's rooms? I can't tell him. You know that. No. But do you think I need to tell Sirius about it?"

Hermione frowned at that. "I don't know, Harry. You know, you might be entirely wrong, and then you would hurt Sirius. I mean, I have never seen him so deeply in love as he is now. And Sirius would be very angry with you. We need to know more before we can do anything about it. And apart from that…"

But she couldn't finish, for just at that moment, Ron burst in on both of them, looking very annoyed. Where have you been all this time, Harry? Did you forget that we would meet at Hagrid's this afternoon? The two of you look as if you are plotting at something secret. Something that I'm not supposed to know?"

"Oh," Harry claimed, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Ron, I completely forgot! Oh, that really is stupid. But I really couldn't think of anything else but this, you know. You see…" And he quickly filled Ron in on the details of his afternoon trip.

Ron listened with growing disbelief. But before he could make any comment his eyes fell on the small chain that Harry still kept in his hand.

"Where did you get that from, Harry? Surely it doesn't come from Caldus's rooms?"

Harry flushed when he realized that he still kept the chain in his hand.

"Yes, I found it in Caldus's room. Strange, isn't it? It lay under the bed. It looked as if it had fallen. Or as if he had thrown it away. Strange, really. I mean, it's nothing special, but still…"

Hermione bent over the chain interestedly, experimentally holding it around her neck. Child's stuff, really," she commented. "Why would professor Caldus keep it? Perhaps it is a memory from a lover, or something?"

Harry disbelievingly raised his eyebrows at her. "You mean you think Sirius gave it to him? I can hardly believe it. This just looks cheap. And silly."

"Not that Sirius cannot act amazingly silly," Hermione commented drily. "The way he pranks professor Snape from time to time…"

"Blimey, Harry," Ron suddenly said. "I think I have seen this thing before. But it beats me where that can have been. I thought I remembered it, but then you started to talk about Snape…"

He broke off and gaped at the others in wide-eyed confusion. "Wait a second… Polyjuice… You think that Snape would have something to do with it?"

Hermione frowned and Harry looked irritated. "As a matter of fact, I'm convinced that he has something to do with it. He's been acting strange of late. Stranger than usual, that is. Not his old, snarky self. I would very nearly be concerned about him if I weren't convinced that he can help himself."

"Can he?" Hermione skeptically asked. "If you asked me, I would say, he's not making a stellar job out of it."

"Yes, well, I don't care about that right now. I am convinced that he has something to do with it. What if Caldus really uses polyjuice to take someone else's shape? Don't you think that Snape brews it for him? Snape could never stand any of the defense teachers before, but he seems to go on well, with Caldus. That's a strange thing in itself."

"Do you really think that Caldus needs anyone to brew polyjuice for him?" Hermione asked? He seems to know enough about potions to do it himself."

"Perhaps he doesn't have the materials?" Harry asked? But that didn't even sound convincing in his own ears.

"Maybe Caldus and Snape are in some way related to each other?"

"Do you mean, acquaintance from the past? But why did they pretend not to know each other when they met at the pub? They never said anything about it. You don't think Snape is caught up in something evil, do you?"

Harry sighed. "No, I don't think it," he tiredly said. "I spent a lot of time thinking Snape was the enemy. And he wasn't. Still, something is very wrong here. Why, I walked towards the library the other day and first thought I saw Snape. But it was Caldus. They even have the same build…"

He broke off. "You don't think Snape _is_ Caldus, do you?"

Silence.

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other with growing dismay in their eyes.

A flood of memories came up and flitted in front of Harry's eyes.

_Caldus and Sirius, laughing together in the pub._

_Snape, in his classroom, his eyes red and unseeing._

_Caldus and Sirius, kissing and appearing embarrassed about it._

_Caldus, a mixture of pain and fury in his eyes._

_Caldus and Sirius, walking around the lake, hand in hand and oblivious to the world._

_Snape, looking like a deer caught in the headlights._

_Caldus, a friendly man one moment; a completely different person the next._

It couldn't be true. It had to be true.

Snape was Caldus. What a mean thing to do. What a vile, disgusting thing to do.

But then he remembered all the times that Sirius had made a fool of Snape. The childish thoughtlessness of those pranks. The time when Sirius had hexed Snape's clothes away at Grimmauld Place. The incident at the lake. Snape's red eyes. And finally, with a sinking feeling in his stomach, the shrieking shack.

A feeling of sick dismay rose to Harry's lips. He saw in Hermione's and Ron's eyes that they thought the same thing.

"We need to talk to Sirius," he hoarsely said. "We need to warn him. Oh, Merlin, this really is awful."


End file.
